All Through The House
by WildflowerWeasley
Summary: From the Louder Than Her Demons Universe: Jack, Liam, and Olivia plan to catch Santa delivering their presents.


**A/N:** Good morning and Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, mine was filled with craziness which is why I'm posting this today.

I wrote this story for the Harmony Advent Collection on the Facebook Group Harmony & Co. (18+). I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Shh!" Hermione said softly to Harry, who clapped his hand over his mouth and closed his eyes. Hermione pursed her lips to contain her own laughter, her shoulders shaking silently.

Harry and Hermione had taken the children out shopping earlier in the day, giving them a chance to buy gifts for him and Hermione, each other and Sirius. It had been a successful trip and of course, now the trick would be keeping the gifts a secret until Christmas morning.

They hadn't been home long when Olivia excitedly announced to her brothers that she had a perfect plan for Christmas Eve, and the two boys sat beside her ready to hear her idea.

At three years old, Livie was already sneakier than her brothers and usually, the boys went along with whatever plan she cooked up. The three had been talking with their heads together and getting suspiciously quiet when their parents were close.

That was how Harry and Hermione had found themselves drinking hot chocolate in the kitchen while also trying not to burst into laughter. They, of course, could hear every whisper and snicker from the living room and had been grinning and shushing each other for the last thirty minutes.

"We'll ask Uncle George for a stendable ear! Santa will never know! We can sleep in my room and listen for him, and when he gets here we can run down to see him!" Olivia said, finishing up her plan.

Jack and Liam were both nodding, agreeing that her plan was brilliant.

"We can use Mummy's camera and take his picture!" Liam added.

Hermione shook her head and looked at Harry with raised eyebrows, silently communicating 'what are you going to do now'. He shrugged his shoulders, completely at ease and took a sip of his drink.

"Livie, what about Mummy and Daddy...they won't like it if we get those ears or use the camera without asking," Jack said.

Olivia tilted her head to the side, concentrating hard before she sat up and a bright smile crossed her face.

"Papa Padfoot will say yes…" The little girl said sweetly.

Hermione sat up then, her eyes wide and mouth dropped open, Harry's expression mirroring her own. They heard a bark of laughter from the animagus who was eavesdropping from the library.

"That little sneak!" Harry whispered.

"Your child," Hermione said matter of factly.

Harry began to protest but Hermione put her hand over his mouth, as she heard the boys gasp.

Both Jack and Liam's eyes widened, "Liv, you're going to get into big trouble," Jack said.

"Okay, okay. We'll ask Mummy and Daddy…" Olivia said in an exasperated tone and Harry could imagine her eyes rolling at her big brother.

Minutes later Harry and Hermione heard feet running into the kitchen. They sat up straight and both took sips of their hot chocolate trying not to look suspicious.

"Mummy, Daddy guess what!" Liam said excitedly.

Before they could respond, Jack cut in, "we came up with a great plan for Christmas eve but we wanted to make sure it was alright with you first."

Hermione smiled at her eldest, he was always taking care of his siblings and in this case, he didn't want Olivia to be in trouble.

"It was my idea!" Olivia said as if her brothers were trying to steal it from her.

Jack shook his head and Liam leaned down to shush Livie.

"We all had ideas and came up with this one together," Liam said.

Olivia huffed, "we want to see Santa! Can we use some stendable ears from Uncle George's shop to hear when he comes inside?"

Harry pretended to think on it causing all three children to start begging.

"Please Daddy, please! We just want to say hello and thank him for the presents! Please, Daddy, we won't break the ears!"

"I think that will be alright, but, you have to go to sleep once you've seen him."

The children began to jump and cheer while Harry gave his wife a mischievous smile.

"Alright, alright, you three, it's time for bed, so go up and get ready," Harry said.

They all nodded furiously and ran from the room to go up the stairs.

"And just what have you got planned? I'm certainly not going to glamour myself as Santa…"

"Of course not, though you do have the belly for it," he said with a wink before throwing his arms up to guard himself against her slap.

"Harry Potter!"

He smiled widely and tickled her sides and he watched as she threw her head back and laughed. She was gorgeous, her hair was wild from a day out in the wind and her sweater was just a little snug around her growing belly.

"You're so beautiful 'Mione," he said as he pulled her in for a hug. He watched as her cheeks grew pink and smiled, loving that he still had the ability to make her blush.

Harry took her hand and helped her down from her stool. They cleaned up their dishes and headed up to bed, waving to Sirius as they passed him reading on the couch.

* * *

Before they all knew it, weeks had passed and Christmas Eve was upon them. Harry and the children had been bouncing with excitement all day.

The kids had been given permission to ask for the extendable ear and had set it up just how Olivia had planned it out. They were upstairs, getting into their pajamas and making their blanket fort to camp out in while they waited for Santa to arrive.

"Can you hear me, little munchkins?" Hermione asked softly while standing near the ear at the bottom of the stairs, and a chorus of yesses rang out from Livie's room.

Hermione laughed and shook her head at their silliness. Harry was grinning from ear to ear, he had no issues admitting that he turned into a big kid around the holidays. He couldn't wait to see their faces when they caught him.

They walked up the stairs to give the children hugs and kisses goodnight before heading to their own room to get their pajamas on.

Harry turned to watch Hermione change, a soft smile on his face. She wore leggings with thick fluffy socks and one of his long sleeve quidditch jerseys that would accommodate her growing bump.

When she was finished putting her hair up he walked over and knelt down to kiss her belly. "Happy Christmas little one," he whispered with his hands on either side of her bump.

Hermione ran a hand through his hair and smiled down at him when he turned his attention to her.

"Alright Santa, how long will you make them wait?" she asked as he stood up.

"Not long, I value my sleep you know," he said with a cheeky grin and he changed into his own pajama bottoms.

When they were both dressed, Harry took Hermione's hand to lead her back down to the living room.

On their way past Livie's room, they could see Jack, Liam, and Livie all huddled together in their blanket fort trying to stay awake. Harry smiled, knowing they would all crash before much longer and he would have to make some noise to alert them when he was ready to be caught.

* * *

"I'm going to make some tea, do you want a cup?" Hermione asked as she walked into the kitchen.

"I would love some, I'm going to start a fire."

"Alright, is Sirius still up or did he already go to bed?" Harry heard her call from the kitchen.

"I think he's already in bed, love." He called back as he walked over and put a new log into the fireplace. He sent an incendio at the log and the fire quickly spread, warming the room.

He walked over to the basket in the corner to get a blanket just as Hermione walked back into the living room with their tea. He took the cups from her so that she could get comfortable and sat beside her.

Hermione snuggled into his side and they watched the fire crackle while sipping their tea. Harry loved nights like this when the house was quiet and the two of them could just sit and enjoy each other's company. It seemed they were always going these days and when new baby Potter made his or her debut, it would only be crazier.

A couple of hours later, the two were laid on the couch wrapped in blankets. Their teacups had long since been abandoned and Harry was rubbing his wife's back absentmindedly.

"Harry," Hermione whispered.

"Mmm?"

"I think we should get started, I'm falling asleep."

Harry chuckled and kissed her temple before helping her up from the couch.

"Alright love, let's get to it."

The two quietly levitated all of the gifts from their hiding places and arranged them around the tree.

When everything was where they wanted it, Harry transfigured his clothes into a Santa suit and Hermione glamoured him to look like the jolly man.

He looked into the mirror over the fireplace when she was finished and snickered. He thought he looked a lot like Dumbledore and when he told Hermione, she had to cover her mouth to contain her laughter.

"Okay, Santa...it's show time."

He gave her a wicked grin and pulled her in for a quick kiss before pinching her bum. When she squealed, they both heard the sound of movement from upstairs and Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

Harry just wiggled his eyebrows and quickly went to the tree to place the last couple of gifts. As he played the part of Santa, they could hear their children whispering and trying to creep down the stairs. Hermione shuffled into the kitchen to hide, not intending to be caught downstairs.

"It's him! Liam look! It's really Santa!" Livie whispered to her brother.

Liam shushed his sister and Jack was snapping pictures furiously, sure to catch every move.

Harry, knowing they could see him now, casually walked over to the table where cookies were sat.

Harry looked toward the kitchen with a mischievous grin and he saw her roll her eyes.

"Why hello, young lady!" He called out in her direction. "It's been quite some time since I last saw you, have you been a good girl this year?"

Her eyes went wide, her cheeks pinked and the children were silent, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Of course, I've been a very good girl," she said matter of factly.

"Well then, that deserves a gift I think, come over here so I can give it to you."

She shook her head, "I couldn't possibly, I don't need any presents."

"Nonsense," he said after releasing a deep belly laugh.

Hermione sighed and walked slowly toward him, "Oh alright, if you insist."

When she reached him he wrapped his arms around her and softly said, "oh I do."

Her eyes widened as he leaned down to kiss her senseless and there were three gasps from the stairs. Harry heard the camera snap a few more times and he briefly thought that the pictures would be hilarious before the sound of his daughter's indignant voice rang out from above him.

"Hey! You get away from my mummy!" They watched as their tiny daughter ran down the stairs and kicked Harry right in the shin.

"Ow!" Harry immediately released Hermione and reached down to rub his leg. "Hey now, little miss, that was quite naughty kicking Santa like that."

Olivia crossed her arms and glared up at him and Hermione was struggling to hold in her laughter.

"No one kisses my mummy cept my daddy!"

At that moment the boys rushed down the stairs also glaring at Harry.

"I think it's time you left, sir," Jack said in a soft but serious tone. "And thank you for the gifts," he tacked on while pointing toward the fireplace.

Harry struggled to keep a straight face. "Alright children, I meant no harm but I'm proud of you all for taking care of your mum."

He started for the now empty fireplace and when he turned to face the children he smiled and winked.

"Happy Christmas!" He called out before disapparating.

After landing in his bedroom, he quickly waved his wand over himself casting a finite and watched as his features and clothes returned to normal.

A few minutes later, he heard the children getting back in their fort while asking their mum if they could just stay up and open their gifts.

After telling them to get to sleep, Hermione walked into their room and shut the door behind her.

"Mummy kissing Santa Claus? Really…" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Well technically, I didn't get my kiss," he said petulantly.

Hermione crawled onto the bed and on to his lap and he let his hands travel up her thighs to hold her hips. She placed both hands on his cheeks before leaning down and kissing him soundly.

When he opened his eyes she was smirking, "better?"

He gave her a dopey grin and nodded before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly to his chest.

"You're ridiculous," she laughed loudly and laid her head on his chest.

"You love it."

* * *

The next morning, Harry was pulled from sleep by the sound of feet thumping on the floor in the hall and the bedroom door slamming open.

"Daddy! Daddy, you won't believe it!" Liam called out as he bolted onto the bed.

Jack was already crawling up the bed to sit in between his parents and thrust the camera into Harry's hands. Olivia was practically vibrating with excitement as she jumped on the bed.

"Daddy, can we develop the pictures today?" Jack asked.

"We saw Santa! Jack got pictures, he was going to kiss Mummy!" Olivia blurted out.

Harry's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in shock.

"He what?"

He watched as his daughter stopped jumping and nodded, her face was serious and she put her hands on her hips. Harry had to stop himself from laughing at the picture she made, she was definitely her mother's child.

Hermione sat up watching the scene and poked Harry in the side when she caught the look he gave her.

"He was gonna kiss her cause she was a good girl all year. Can you believe that?" Livie said scandalized.

"Don't worry, Daddy, I told him he needed to leave," Jack told him proudly.

"Well, I guess I should be very happy that you all came up with a plan to catch Santa then, hadn't I?" He said and watched them all nod in agreement.

"Alright you little monsters," Hermione announced, "how about we go down and see what Santa brought us. After we're done with gifts we can make chocolate chip pancakes."

"Yes!" Jack, Liam, and Livie all whooped and ran from the room.

Sirius wandered to their doorway a moment later cheerfully calling out happy Christmas before quickly following the stampeding children down to the living room.

Harry waved to his Godfather and turned his attention back to his wife. She had gotten up to put on her robe and he followed her lead before walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Happy Christmas Santa."

He chuckled and kissed the back of her neck before scooping her up and carrying her out of the room bridal style.

"Happy Christmas Mrs. Claus."


End file.
